ROSELYN HOUSE SCHOOL /
THE RHISE SERVICE
Exam Contingency Plan
2022/2023
Contents
Key staff involved in contingency planning 3
Purpose of the plan 4
Possible causes of disruption to the exam process 4
1. Exam officer extended absence at key points in the exam process (cycle) 4
2. SENCo extended absence at key points in the exam cycle 5
3. Teaching staff extended absence at key points in the exam cycle 6
4. Invigilators - lack of appropriately trained invigilators or invigilator absence 7
5. Exam rooms - lack of appropriate rooms or main venues unavailable at short notice 7
6. Failure of IT systems 7
7. Emergency evacuation of the exam room (or centre lock down) 8
8. Disruption of teaching time in the weeks before an exam – centre closed for an extended period
8
9. Candidates unable to take examinations because of a crisis – centre remains open 8
10. Centre unable to open as normal during the examinations period 9
11. Disruption in the distribution of examination papers 9
12. Disruption to the transportation of completed examination scripts 9
13. Assessment evidence is not available to be marked 10
14. Centre unable to distribute results as normal or facilitate post results services 10
15. Cyber security 11
Further guidance to inform procedures and implement contingency planning 13
Ofqual 13
JCQ 15
GOV.UK 18
Wales 18
Northern Ireland 18
National Counter Terrorism Security Office 18
This plan is reviewed annually to ensure compliance with current regulations
Approved/reviewed by |
|
Kirsty Willacy |
|
Date of next review |
October 2023 |
Key staff involved in contingency planning
Role |
Name(s) |
Head of centre |
SHARON DAMERALL |
Exams officer line manager (SLT) |
KIRSTY WILLACY |
Exams officer |
KIRSTY WILLACY |
ALS lead/SENCo |
JUNE WILSON |
Senior leader(s) |
JACK BIRKENHEAD |
This Policy should be read in conjunction with Roselyn House School and The RHISE Centre’s Emergency Planning Policy and Procedures.
Purpose of the plan
This plan examines potential risks and issues that could cause disruption to the exams process at Roselyn House School/ The RHISE Centre. By outlining actions/procedures to be invoked in case of disruption it is intended to mitigate the impact these disruptions have on our exam process.
Alongside internal processes, this plan is informed by the Ofqual.
Exam system contingency plan: England, Wales and Northern Ireland which provides guidance in the publication What schools and colleges and other centres should do if exams or other assessments are seriously disrupted and the JCQ Joint Contingency Plan for the Examination System in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and the JCQ notice Preparing for disruption to examinations (effective from 11 October 2022).
This plan also confirms Roselyn House School/ The RHISE Centre compliance with JCQ’s General Regulations for Approved Centres (section 5.3) that the centre has in place:
a written examination contingency plan which covers all aspects of examination administration. This will allow members of the senior leadership team to act immediately in the event of an emergency or staff absence. The examination contingency plan should reinforce procedures in the event of the centre being unavailable for examinations, or on results day, owing to an unforeseen emergency
Possible causes of disruption to the exam process
Exam officer extended absence at key points in the exam process (cycle)
Criteria for implementation of the plan Key tasks required in the management and administration of the exam cycle not undertaken including: Planning
Entries
Pre-exams
Exam time
Results and post-results
|
Centre actions to mitigate the impact of the disruption
|
ALS lead/SENCo extended absence at key points in the exam cycle
Criteria for implementation of the plan Key tasks required in the management and administration of the access arrangements process within the exam cycle not undertaken including: Planning
Pre-exams
Exam time
|
Centre actions to mitigate the impact of the disruption
|
Teaching staff extended absence at key points in the exam cycle
Criteria for implementation of the plan Key tasks not undertaken including: Early/estimated entry information not provided to the exams officer on time; resulting in pre-release information not being received Final entry information not provided to the exams officer on time; resulting in candidates not being entered for exams/assessments or being entered late/late or other penalty fees being charged by awarding bodies Non-examination assessment tasks not set/issued/taken by candidates as scheduled Candidates not being informed of centre assessed marks before marks are submitted to the awarding body and therefore not being able to consider appealing internal assessment decisions and requesting a review of the centre’s marking Internal assessment marks and candidates’ work not provided to meet awarding body submission deadlines |
Centre actions to mitigate the impact of the disruption
|
Invigilators - lack of appropriately trained invigilators or invigilator absence
Criteria for implementation of the plan Failure to recruit and train sufficient invigilators to conduct exams Invigilator shortage on peak exam days Invigilator absence on the day of an exam |
Centre actions to mitigate the impact of the disruption
|
Exam rooms - lack of appropriate rooms or main venues unavailable at short notice
Criteria for implementation of the plan Exams officer unable to identify sufficient/appropriate rooms during exams timetable planning Insufficient rooms available on peak exam days Main exam venues unavailable due to an unexpected incident at exam time |
Centre actions to mitigate the impact of the disruption
|
Failure of IT systems
Criteria for implementation of the plan MIS system failure at final entry deadline MIS system failure during exams preparation MIS system failure at results release time |
Centre actions to mitigate the impact of the disruption
|
Emergency evacuation of the exam room (or centre lock down)
Criteria for implementation of the plan Whole centre evacuation (or lock down) during exam time due to serious incident resulting in exam candidates being unable to start, proceed with or complete their exams |
Centre actions to mitigate the impact of the disruption
|
Disruption of teaching time in the weeks before an exam – centre closed for an extended period
Criteria for implementation of the plan Centre closed or candidates are unable to attend for an extended period during normal teaching or study supported time, interrupting the provision of normal teaching and learning |
Centre actions to mitigate the impact of the disruption
|
Candidates at risk of being unable to take examinations – centre remains open
Criteria for implementation of the plan Candidates at risk of being unable to attend the examination centre to take examinations as normal |
Centre actions to mitigate the impact of the disruption
|
Centre at risk of being unable to open as normal during the examination period
(including in the event of the centre being unavailable for examinations owing to an unforeseen emergency)
Criteria for implementation of the plan Centre at risk of being unable to open as normal for scheduled examinations |
Centre actions to mitigate the impact of the disruption
|
Disruption in the distribution of examination papers
Criteria for implementation of the plan Disruption to the distribution of examination papers to the centre in advance of examinations |
Centre actions to mitigate the impact of the disruption
|
Disruption to transporting completed examination scripts
Criteria for implementation of the plan Delay in normal collection arrangements for completed examination scripts/assessment evidence |
Centre actions to mitigate the impact of the disruption
|
Assessment evidence is not available to be marked
Criteria for implementation of the plan Large scale damage to or destruction of completed examination scripts/assessment evidence before it can be marked Completed examination scripts/assessment evidence does not reach awarding organisations |
Centre actions to mitigate the impact of the disruption
|
Centre unable to distribute results as normal or facilitate post results services
(including in the event of the centre being unavailable on results day owing to an unforeseen emergency)
Criteria for implementation of the plan Centre is unable to access or manage the distribution of results to candidates, or to facilitate post-results services |
Centre actions to mitigate the impact of the disruption Distribution of results:
Facilitation of post results services:
|
Cyber Security. Where a Cyber- attack may compromise any aspect of delivery or results
Criteria for implementation of the plan Centre is unable to obtain results to candidates, or to facilitate post-results services |
Centre actions to mitigate the impact of the disruption
Distribution of results:
If subject to a cyber-attack, centres should: • Enact your incident management plan • Report to the NCSC: https://report.ncsc.gov.uk/ • Contact your local law enforcement and Action Fraud: https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/ • Inform the DfE by emailing: sector.securityenquiries@education.gov.uk Facilitation of post results services:
|
Further guidance to inform procedures and implement contingency planning
Ofqual
What schools and colleges and other centres should do if exams or other assessments are seriously disrupted:
1. Contingency planning
You should prepare for possible disruption to exams and other assessments and make sure staff are aware of these plans.
2. Disruption to assessments or exams
In the absence of any instruction from the relevant awarding organisation, you should make sure that any exam or timetabled assessment takes place if it is possible to hold it. This may mean relocating to alternative premises.
You should discuss alternative arrangements with your awarding organisation if:
the exam or assessment cannot take place
a student misses an exam or loses their assessment due to an emergency, or other event, outside of the student’s control
See also the JCQ Joint Contingency Plan for the Examination System in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
3. Steps you should take
3.1 Exam planning
Review contingency plans well in advance of each exam or assessment series. Consider how, if the contingency plan is invoked, you will comply with the awarding organisation’s requirements.
3.2In the event of disruption
Contact the relevant awarding organisation and follow its instructions.
Take advice, or follow instructions, from relevant local or national agencies in deciding whether your centre is able to open.
Identify whether the exam or timetabled assessment can be sat at an alternative venue, in agreement with the relevant awarding organisation, ensuring the secure transportation of questions papers or assessment materials to the alternative venue.
Where accommodation is limited, prioritise students whose progression will be severely delayed if they do not take their exam or timetabled assessment when planned.
In the event of an evacuation during an examination please refer to JCQ’s Centre emergency evacuation procedure.
Communicate with parents, carers and students any changes to the exam or assessment timetable or to the venue.
Communicate with any external assessors or relevant third parties regarding any changes to the exam or assessment timetable.
3.3 After the exam
Consider whether any students’ ability to take the assessment or demonstrate their level of attainment has been materially affected and, if so, apply for special consideration.
Advise students, where appropriate, of the opportunities to take their exam or assessment at a later date.
Ensure that scripts are stored under secure conditions.
Return scripts to awarding organisations in line with their instructions. Never make alternative arrangements for the transportation of completed exam scripts, unless told to do so by the awarding organisation.
4. Steps the awarding organisation should take
4.1 Exam planning
Establish and maintain, and at all times comply with, an up-to-date, written contingency plan.
Ensure that the arrangements in place with centres and other third parties enable them to deliver and award qualifications in accordance with their conditions of recognition.
4.2 In the event of disruption
Take all reasonable steps to mitigate any adverse effect, in relation to their qualifications, arising from any disruption.
Provide effective guidance to any of their centres delivering qualifications.
Ensure that where an assessment must be completed under specified conditions, students complete the assessment under those conditions (other than where any reasonable adjustments or special considerations require alternative conditions).
Promptly notify the relevant regulators about any event which could have an adverse effect on students, standards or public confidence.
Coordinate its communications with the relevant regulators where the disruption has an impact on multiple centres or a wide range of learners.
4.3 After the exam
Consider any requests for special consideration for affected students. For example, those who may have lost their internally assessed work or whose performance in assessments or exams could have been affected by the disruption.
5. If any students miss an exam or are disadvantaged by the disruption
If some of the students have been adversely affected by the disruption, you should ask the awarding organisation about applying for special consideration.
Decisions about special consideration, when it is or is not appropriate, is for each awarding organisation to make. Their decisions might be different for different qualifications and for different subjects.
6. Wider communications
The regulators, Ofqual in England, Qualifications Wales in Wales and CCEA Regulation in Northern Ireland, will share timely and accurate information, as required, with awarding organisations, government departments and other stakeholders.
The Department for Education in England, the Department of Education in Northern Ireland and the Welsh Government will inform the relevant government ministers as soon as it becomes apparent that there will be significant local or national disruption; and ensure that they are kept updated until the matter is resolved.
Awarding organisations will alert the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) and the Central Applications Office (CAO) about any impact of the disruption on their deadlines and liaise regarding student progression to further and higher education.
Awarding organisations will alert relevant professional bodies or employer groups if the impact of disruption particularly affects them.
7. Widespread national disruption to the taking of examinations or assessments
JCQ
15.1 The qualification regulators, awarding bodies and government departments responsible for education have prepared and agreed information for schools and colleges in the event of examinations being seriously disrupted. This jointly agreed information will ensure consistency of response in the event of major disruption to the examinations system affecting significant numbers of candidates.
Further information may be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/exam-system-contingency-plan-england-wales-and-northern-ireland/what-schools-and-colleges-should-do-if-exams-or-other-assessments-are-seriously-disrupted
15.2 In addition, awarding bodies have their own well-established contingency plans in place to respond to disruptions. It is important that exams officers who are facing disruption liaise directly with the relevant awarding body/bodies.
15.3 Centres should prepare plans for any disruption to examinations as part of their general emergency planning. It is important to ensure that relevant centre staff are familiar with the plan. Consideration should be given as to how these arrangements will be communicated to candidates, parents and staff should disruption to examinations occur.
15.4 In the event that the head of centre decides the centre cannot be opened for scheduled examinations, the relevant awarding body must be informed as soon as possible. Awarding bodies will be able to offer advice regarding the alternative arrangements for conducting examinations that may be available and the options for candidates who have not been able to take scheduled examinations.
15.5 The awarding bodies will designate a ‘contingency day’ for examinations, Wednesday 28th June 2023 (last day available) . This is consistent with the qualification regulators’ document Exam system contingency plan: England, Wales and Northern Ireland: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/exam-system-contingency-plan-england-wales-and-northern-ireland
The designation of a ‘contingency day’ within the common examination timetable is in the event of national or significant local disruption to examinations. It is part of the awarding bodies’ standard contingency planning for examinations.
The awarding bodies have collectively agreed a contingency day for several years now which is always scheduled at the end of the GCSE, GCE AS and A-level exam timetables.
The contingency day is in the event of national or significant local disruption to exams in the United Kingdom, being part of the awarding bodies’ standard contingency planning for exams.
Following the Covid-19 pandemic, further resilience was needed within the exam timetables. A single contingency day was not felt to be sufficient if a national event or incident had a significant effect on the exam timetable. For example, summer exams could be affected by extremely high temperatures.
For the June 2023 exams, the awarding bodies have therefore introduced two additional half-day contingency sessions. These are on Thursday 8 June 2023 and Thursday 15 June 2023. The standard contingency day remains at the end of the timetable being scheduled on Wednesday 28 June 2023.
Candidates should be available until Wednesday 28 June 2023 should examinations need to be rescheduled.
This Notice is based on guidance provided within the JCQ Joint Contingency Plan, which is available from the JCQ website:
In the event of widespread disruption to the examination system, all centres must have contingency plans in place. There are three main categories of disruption, which are outlined below.
Candidates at risk of being unable to take examinations – centres remain open
Centres’ contingency plans should focus on options that enable candidates to take their examinations. As part of these preparations, centres should take into account the guidance provided in the JCQ publication Instructions for conducting examinations: http://www.jcq.org.uk/exams-office/ice---instructions-for- conducting-examinations
consider moving the starting times of the examination for all candidates (see section 6.2 of the JCQ publication Instructions for conducting examinations)
being aware of the rules for very late arrivals (see section 21 of the JCQ publication Instructions for conducting examinations).
Wherever possible, it is always in the best interest for candidates to sit the examination. However, if candidates who are unable to sit the examination meet the criteria, special consideration through absence for acceptable reasons is an option (see Chapter 4 of the JCQ publication A guide to the special consideration process: https://www.jcq.org.uk/exams-office/access-arrangements-and-special- consideration/regulations-and-guidance
Please do not hesitate to call the relevant awarding body if you require additional support or guidance in the event of disruption to examinations.
Centres at risk of being unable to open as normal during the examination period
As above, centres’ contingency plans must focus on enabling candidates to take their examinations if the centre is at risk of being unable to open as normal.
The responsibility for deciding whether it is safe for a centre to open lies with the head of centre who is responsible for taking advice or following instructions from relevant local or national agencies.
Information on what centres should do if examinations or other assessments are seriously disrupted can be found in the three country regulators’ exam system contingency plan:
Special consideration through absence for acceptable reasons is also available as an option if all other avenues have been exhausted and candidates meet the relevant criteria.
Please do not hesitate to call the relevant awarding body if you require additional support or guidance in the event of disruption to your examinations.
Disruption to transporting completed examination scripts
If there is a delay in normal collection arrangements for completed examination scripts:
where examinations are part of the national ‘yellow label’ service or where awarding bodies arrange collections, centres should contact the relevant awarding bodies for advice and instructions.
for examinations where centres make their own collection arrangements, they should investigate alternative options that comply with the JCQ publication Instructions for conducting examinations
completed scripts must be stored securely until they are collected.
Summary of centre and awarding body responsibilities
Examination centres are responsible for:
preparing plans for any disruption to examinations as part of centres’ general emergency planning
deciding whether the centre can open for examinations as scheduled and informing relevant awarding bodies if the centre is unable to open
exploring the opportunities for alternative arrangements if the centre cannot open for examinations and agreeing such arrangements with the awarding bodies
judging whether candidates meet the requirements for special consideration because of any disruption and submitting these requests to the relevant awarding bodies
assessing their circumstances and liaising with awarding bodies in the event of disruption to the transportation of papers.
Awarding bodies are responsible for:
ensuring centres receive examination materials for scheduled examinations
advising centres on possible alternative examination arrangements and declining/approving proposals for alternative examination arrangements
evaluating and declining/approving requests for special consideration.
Contacting the awarding bodies
In all cases, if there are any concerns, please contact the relevant awarding body for advice:
AQA
0800 197 7162
eos@aqa.org.uk
CCEA
028 9026 1212, 028 9026 1293, 028 9026 1425
centresupport@ccea.org.uk
OCR
01223 553998
support@ocr.org.uk
Pearson
0344 463 2535
WJEC
02920 265 077
exams@wjec.co.uk
General Regulations for Approved Centres www.jcq.org.uk/exams-office/general-regulations
Guidance notes on alternative site arrangements www.jcq.org.uk/exams-office/online-forms
Guidance notes for transferred candidates www.jcq.org.uk/exams-office/online-forms
Instructions for Conducting Examinations www.jcq.org.uk/exams-office/ice---instructions-for-conducting-examinations
A guide to the special consideration process www.jcq.org.uk/exams-office/access-arrangements-and-special-consideration/regulations-and-guidance
GOV.UK
Emergency planning and response: Severe weather; Exam disruption; Coronavirus (COVID-19) www.gov.uk/guidance/emergencies-and-severe-weather-schools-and-early-years-settings
Dispatch of exam scripts guide: Ensuring the service runs smoothly; Contingency planning https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dispatch-of-exam-scripts-yellow-label-service
Wales
School closures: examinations gov.wales/school-closures-examinations
Opening schools in extremely bad weather: guidance for schools gov.wales/opening-schools-extremely-bad-weather-guidance-schools
Northern Ireland
Exceptional closure days www.education-ni.gov.uk/articles/exceptional-closure-days
Checklist for Principals when considering Opening or Closure of School - exceptional closure of schools
School closures www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/school-closures
National Counter Terrorism Security Office
Checklist for managing bomb threats www.gov.uk/government/publications/bomb-threats-guidance/procedures-for-handling-bomb-threats
Guidance - Bomb Threats www.gov.uk/government/publications/crowded-places-guidance/bomb-threats
Written by K Willacy January 2022
Reviewed: October 2022
Review: September 2023